Bitcoin tops $1,000...highest level in 3 years

Bitcoin kicked off 2017 with a bang.

The value of the digital currency topped $1,000 on Monday, its best level in at least three years.

Bitcoin has spiked in recent months following a series of unexpected global events kicked off by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the sudden ban of large rupee notes in India.

"It was a perfect storm of events," said Charles Hayter, founder and CEO of digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare. "Uncertainty is key."

Hayter said the rise of populism globally means that "walls are going up rather than coming down," and people are seeing higher risks of trade wars and other fallout from the ratcheting up of tensions.

All this has led Bitcoin's value to more than double in the past year to $1,023, from around $430. Just since Trump's election, it has spiked 40%.